WILLIAMSBURG — Perry had two champions crowned Saturday at the Williamsburg Invite, a six-team event that Bluejay head coach Mark Weber said he intends to use as a teaching tool.
“This was another weekend with a lot of matches the guys can learn from,” Weber said. “Most of our guys were tested in some fashion, and that is a good thing, because it creates a learning opportunity.”
“Every one was wrestling with heart, but some show it differently than others,” he added. “I was happy to see some guys wrestle hard, even on their last match, and even after they had a setback earlier in the day. It says a lot about their character as well as the intangibles that our coaches are trying to teach them along with proper technique.”
Williamsburg won the meet with 239.5 points, with Grinnell second at 168. Perry was third with 130 points, with Mt. Pleasant (122.5), Pella (110) and Waterloo West (98) also in action.
Senior Zachary Thompson became Perry’s all-time victory leader with a 4-0 effort that won the 120-pound class. Ranked fourth in 3A, Thompson improved to 30-4 this season with four unscored-upon technical falls. He is now 160-27 overall, eclipsing the former PHS standard of 156 set by Kane Seeley.
Second-ranked Zach Stewart (40-4) used three pins, a tech fall and an injury default to breeze to the title at 138, while Kaleb Olejniczak (31-4), rated fifth at 126, started 4-0 but was surprised in the finals by 2A No. 6 Justin Schropp of Williamsburg and fell, 6-4, in Sudden Victory I to place second.
“Kaleb had a loss that we did not expect, but it was certainly not for a lack of effort,” Weber related. “Schropp is a good wrestler, but I thought Kaleb did all of the work and then some to score on their feet, taking 20-plus shots to the other guy’s one or two.”
“Unfortunately we gave up some points on the side and then a re-attack when it all mattered at the end,” he continued. “We learned a good lesson about our main position during that match and Kaleb will certainly correct it. Kaleb wrestled lights out the entire day until the final five seconds of the last match — guess that is a small but hard lesson to take away.”
Justin Stammer finished 2-2 and in third place at 145, winning twice with pins.
“He had some close matches go both ways,” Weber said. “Unfortunately, the ones we lost were matches where we gave up some big moves and got down by a lot early. It gets difficult to come back from those deficits each match, but he did what he could. I am porud of his effort since he has gotten back on the mat (from an injury).”
Bryan (152) and Erick (160) Funez each placed third, with the former 2-2 with a pin and a decision and the latter 3-2 with two pins and a decision while Cole Snyder was fifth at 170 with a 1-4 mark, his win coming on a pin. Jacob Nelson was 2-2 as well, with one win by pin and one by decision.
“The Funez twins, Snyder and Nelson all capitalized and took care of business when they had the opportunities,” Weber said. “Unfortunately, Snyder had to medical forfeit his last couple of matches due to the concussion protocol after hitting the mat hard in his third match.”
Also competing for Perry were Riece Graham (106) and Alexander Tapia (220), but neither was able to collect a victory.
“Tapia had a rough day, but fought hard to come up just, losing 1-0, in his final match,” Weber said. “Riece wanted to see what he could do at Williamsburg and I think I figured out there is some growing to do and some anger that needs to be pent up and released. He is willing to put in the time, now we need to make it quality time.”
The Perry junior varsity also had a busy Saturday, with the Bluejays visiting the Bobcat JV tourney at the Marshalltown Roundhouse.
Rylee Ray, Jonathan Silva and Jeb Stewart were each a perfect 3-0 at the event, with Daniel Brinton finishing 2-1. Tucker Strough, Bryan Catalan and Francisco Colon also collected wins, with the trio each finishing 1-2.
Wilbur Ramirez, Jason Zepeda, Zach Darr, Charley Guardado and Cesar Ramirez competed as well, but did not find their win to a win.
Perry will host ADM, Boone and Woodward-Granger for a quadrangular Tuesday before joining Humboldt and one other school for a Thursday quadrangular at Ballard. Perry will return to Ballard Saturday, as the Bombers will serve as hosts for the Raccoon River Conference tournament.
